Since the dawn of the video game industry, developers have often cloned competing games, but now, AI coding tools are making this process so efficient that many are hesitant to share their early work. This trend was highlighted by the developer Alliance Arts, who postponed the launch of a planned public demo for their game Drunken Goddess Reflux after concerns about their ideas being quickly imitated or replicated.

Developer Lucas Pope from Papers, Please echoed similar concerns, stating that in general, developers now avoid discussing their works-in-progress for fear of their ideas getting ‘slurped up’ by AI or being copied.

These concerns have become more than just theoretical. Indie developer Freya Holmér faced this issue firsthand when she shared a video of a prototype for a Tetris-style game played on a central pivot point. Within days, copies of the game were widely playable, highlighting the speed at which ideas can be replicated.

The rise of AI tools has transformed the game development landscape, creating a climate of caution among developers. The worry is that while they work in secrecy, their ideas might be swiftly stolen and monetised by others. This shift is not just affecting small developers but is reshaping the entire industry, as the line between originality and imitation becomes increasingly blurred.